Lake Placid

Alpha Leo’s POV

I had very little time to make my escape before someone would wonder why Alpha Stan wasn’t responding, and a search would quickly find him. I had to get out.

The silver would prevent the link, but that wasn’t enough. In the bar, I found some large cloth napkins. I used one to gag Stan, tied one around the knife wound in his thigh to stop the bleeding, and two more to bind his legs together. I saw keys hanging near the door; I grabbed the one for the 2010 Ford Mustang GT500 and pocketed that as well. I slipped out the office door, locking it behind me, then ducked into my room. I grabbed what I needed, putting them into my North Face winter jacket, and left the bag on the bed. I went back out to the hallway, trying to act like nothing was going on as I walked through the Pack House.

I only saw a few people, and I smiled at them as we passed. They bowed their heads respectfully and went on, which was good. I passed by the kitchen, where people were still cleaning up, and entered the large garage attached to the house. The building had thirty or so bays and a full-service area at the back. I pressed the remote car open, and the red Mustang’s lights flashed from the second bay. Climbing in, I adjusted the seat then used the door opener. I started the car as the door was rising, driving out and closing it again as quickly as possible.

I was on edge as I drove out the access road towards the guard shack near the state highway. I had to slow down, but the guard waved me through without a second look. As I turned south, I let out a breath I’d been holding.

I used my phone to access the navigation program and set it for my next destination. I didn’t know if I would make it from New Hampshire to the New York Adirondacks before someone found Stan. Then, I didn’t know what he would do when he woke up. Best case, he wouldn’t want anyone to know I got the best of him, and he’d keep it to the Pack. We both knew that in a fight between us, I’d win.

Worst case? He’d say I went feral and attacked him. He could pull in all his regional allies and the Council, hoping someone would kill me on sight.

With that in mind, I drove away as fast as I could. That meant just five to ten miles an hour above the speed limit because getting pulled over for speeding in a stolen car wouldn’t be good either. I had to hope that Stan wouldn’t involve human law enforcement, but he just might.

Staying to the main roads, I avoided crossing into any Pack lands on my way to the Lake Placid area. I was lucky that we were close to the Winter Solstice, as it was still pitch black when I made the turn onto the road leading to the Keene Valley Pack. I found a place to pull off the road, then hid my clothes in the woods before I shifted.

The sky had cleared, and the moon was still high enough to see my way through the trees. I ran past the NO TRESPASSING- NO HUNTING signs and then the border patrol trail. The scent was relatively fresh, so someone had been through recently. That was good; I might have a few hours before my incursion onto their land was noted.

Leland and Bonnie Carver based his North American Council chairmanship out of a small Pack office building in Keene Valley, and they built a large home in the hills a few miles from the Pack House. His eldest son ran the Pack, and like most previous Alphas, Leland stayed clear of his son’s rule. I followed the creek until I saw his house, then made a break for the back of the house.

I stopped and shifted near the patio door, listening carefully for any hints of being spotted. When I was satisfied, I checked the sliding door leading to the breakfast area. The door was locked, which I expected, but the house wasn’t alarmed. “Probably thought no one had the balls to break in,” I said softly. Holding on to the bottom of the handle, I pulled up a half-dozen times before the lock stopped working, and I could slide the door open.

I grabbed a carving knife from the block on the kitchen counter and headed for the hallway I figured led to the master bedroom. I was almost there when the door opened, and Bonnie appeared in her nightgown. She screamed, and I reacted faster. Pulling her into my arms, I put the knife to her throat and pushed her back into the bedroom. Leland was out of bed, reaching in the drawer for a weapon. “Don’t do it, and don’t link anyone, or she’s dead,” I said. “I don’t want any innocents to get hurt.”

He was smart enough to take his hand out of the drawer without the gun that he wanted. “Put the knife down, Leo. Whatever your problem is, we can talk it through.”

“It’s a little too late for talk, Mr. Chairman. Back up against the wall.” Bonnie was crying, and he didn’t have a choice. I moved towards the bedside table, spotting the Colt 1911 pistol he’d tried to reach. Without warning, I dropped the knife and shoved Bonnie into his arms. While he caught her, I took the firearm out and covered them both. “If anyone interrupts us, I’ll shoot your mate first. Then I’ll kill you before l take as many of them as I can with me. I’m a mantled Alpha with nothing to lose, so that will be a lot. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Leland said, but his wolf was itching to get out.

“Good. Now, let’s go to your office, shall we?” I had the couple walk ahead of me down the hall to his private office. I kept the gun to Bonnie’s head as I told Leland what to do. “You have silver cuffs?”

“In my drawer,” he said.

“Take two pairs out, and nothing else.” He did, and I turned his mate around so he could place the cuffs on her. With her disabled, I kept the gun on Leland as I set his mate in a chair in the corner. I had him cuff himself with his hands in front this time. “Startup your computer, and set up an emergency video conference with all North American Alphas.”

“It’s seven in the morning, East Coast time! It’s not even four in the morning out west, Leo!”

I smacked him on the side of the head with the butt of the pistol, opening up a cut under his silver hair. “I’m aware of how the time zones work, Mr. Chairman. There is an emergency summons code. Use it.”

He pulled up the program and sent the coded message. The alert set off alarms on Alpha phones and computers across North America, waking many of them up. The message he sent told them to get onto the videoconference; we watched as one after another came up on the screen. I’m pretty sure they were shocked to see Chairman Carver sitting in front of me as I held a pistol to his head.

It took about ten minutes to get everyone there before I told Leland to unmute himself. “Thank you for joining us,” I told them. “I apologize for the wakeup, but I have urgent business with the Council. Five days ago, gunmen in Cancun kidnapped Alpha Vicki Lawrence and five of her friends while they were on location for their television show. A day later, we found the hideout they stayed at before the gang turned them over to the man paying for the abduction.”

“We know about the dead gunmen; it was on the news,” Leland said.

“Yes. What was NOT on the news was that a werewolf was the one who came to pick the girls up. I knew this man and considered him a friend. He died before I could talk to him, but I know why he was in the area and who he worked for.” I moved the gun directly behind Leland’s head. “Chairman Leland Carver sent Lawrence Fenwick to meet with Vicki Lawrence in Jamaica. His mission was to present Vicki with the Council’s ultimatum to join the North American Council or else. Vicki refused to give her answer that day, as is her right as an independent Alpha.”

“That proves NOTHING,” Leland said. “Yes, I sent Lawrence down there to give her the information packet. That was all he did.”

“Our investigators found Lawrence Fenwick’s scent at the hideout in the Yucatan, including on the collars used to hold the girls. His was the ONLY scent that didn’t belong there.” I let that sink in. “Chairman Carver is behind their kidnapping, and he will pay the ultimate price for hurting my people. The rest of the Council is under notice. Resign your positions. Produce the girls alive and unharmed, and you will live. If you refuse to resign, or if I don’t have them back by Christmas, I and my allies will kill every last one of you.” Reaching forward, I ended the conference call.